Help!, I made a nice background [UPDATE: Help needed]

mode7 · Tue 22/02/2011 01:47:01

Wellthe BGs as you see them represent one sprite.
I know what you are suggesting, it just seems very complicated to pull off.
How would I setup my walkable areas and hotspots? Also constantly loading 640 sprites into an object might cause the game to lag.
I wonder if using AGSBlend would be quicker than using AGS own blending routines - any ideas?

Yeah they can be sharpened and they already are - it has probably to do with the brush I'm using - but I'm not ready for the had edged 18 round brush just yet

Ryan Timothy B · Tue 22/02/2011 02:10:08

Basically I meant that the room stays at the same size as the game resolution. Then the objects move around instead of the viewport moving around. Once the chunks move off the side of the screen, they'd have to swap their coordinates to the other side of the objects.

[a][b]
[c][d]

If you're moving to the right, the objects would be moving to the left. A and C would soon slide off the left side and they would need to be changed onto the right side of B and D. Or vise verse if you're traveling in the other direction or up or down.

It requires a lot more programming knowledge, and if you're uncertain how to do it, I guess you're probably better off going with the room approach with hotspots and such. I was only suggesting you did it that way so I could enjoy it with beautiful AA layers.

I'm not sure if it's the brush you're using, it almost seems like it was up-scaled slightly. So it has a blurriness in the strokes where it should almost look smoother and darker shades.

Monsieur OUXX · Tue 22/02/2011 10:13:43

Quote from: Ryan Timothy on Tue 22/02/2011 02:10:08
I'm not sure if it's the brush you're using, it almost seems like it was up-scaled slightly. So it has a blurriness in the strokes where it should almost look smoother and darker shades.

+1. Maybe you should use a sharper brush. Those graphics look AMAZING from the distance, but a bit blurry when seen closely.

mode7 · Tue 22/02/2011 11:46:54

You might be right - I give the sharper brush a try.

@Ryan - I get the concept but I don't think it will work in my framework - as I'm using walkable areas for collision detection and it would therefore mean recoding the whole engine.

About the idea using AGS blend - Any experience if this is actually faster then AGS' own alpha blending?

Monsieur OUXX · Tue 22/02/2011 12:31:52

Quote from: mode7 on Tue 22/02/2011 11:46:54
About the idea using AGS blend - Any experience if this is actually faster then AGS' own alpha blending?

I asked the exact same quesiton to Calin Leafshade in AGSBlend's thread. He said that it's faster only if your game uses 32-bits graphics. Otherwise you're just having it perform a bunch of ncessary calculations to convert color depths.

EDIT: About tutorials on colors choice and shading design, here is a small one I wrote and went quite unnoticed. I'm posting it because I find similarities with Theo's one: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=42783.0

Tabata · Tue 22/02/2011 19:28:54

Quote from: mode7 on Mon 21/02/2011 19:20:58
I did another one and now I ran into a problem: You see the house? everything elseis fine but the house is awkwardly shaded - i just didnt know how to approach the shading - suggestions or even an overpaint are highly apprechiated.

It may sound too simple (and maybe it is stupid/impossible), but can't you switch on the light's in some or most of the rooms in the house (or put a little lamp outside at the frontdoor)

straydogstrut · Tue 22/02/2011 20:01:08

Quote from: mode7 on Mon 21/02/2011 19:20:58
I did another one and now I ran into a problem: You see the house? everything elseis fine but the house is awkwardly shaded - i just didnt know how to approach the shading - suggestions or even an overpaint are highly appreciated.

I'll chip in my humble opinion, though goodness knows I lack any sensible art skills to speak of..

I think the problem you're having with the house is the (lack of a) light source. The rest of the level seems to be lit by those alien looking plants (um, unless it's underwater which, you know, would also be awesome..). It looks FANTASTIC but there's no equivalent light source near the house.

I think artificial lighting from inside the house would help, yes, but what about the background? Is there going to be a natural light source like the sun or the moon back there? What time of day is it? Looking at the top of the landscape, particularly around the well and on the right hand side, would suggest there's a light source up above. Yet the top of the house remains in shadow.

Probably not very helpful at all though. I'll just slink off back to my scribbles now.

mode7 · Tue 22/02/2011 20:10:27

Quote from: straydogstrut on Tue 22/02/2011 20:01:08
Probably not very helpful at all though. I'll just slink off back to my scribbles now.

Quite helpful indeed. You're right above the roof.

Also nice idea Tabata, I'll have to try this.
I also think the problem of the house is due to my inabiliy to shade big plain areas.